In the manufacture of various types of garments, it is conventional practice to attach a stiffening insert, usually referred to as an interlining, to the body or shell fabric of certain parts of the garment. Suit, shirt or blouse shoulders, fronts, collars and cuffs, in conventional practice, frequently incorporate an interlining. The interlining is conventionally adhered or fused to the shell fabric by bonding of a thermoactive adhesive material, applied as a coating or by printing in spaced deposits or dot patterns, to one side of the interlining fabric. The interlining fabric is then placed adjacent to the shell fabric, with the thermoactive adhesive material in contact with the shell fabric, and subjected to an ironing or pressing operation which softens the thermoactive material and causes the interlining fabric to adhere to the shell fabric.
Interlining fabrics may be produced of woven, knit (weft inserted), or nonwoven material. Woven or knit interlining fabrics are desirable for their inherent resiliency, drape and strength characteristics, but have sometimes proven less capable than nonwoven materials, which have a smooth surface, of achieving satisfactory bonding to the shell fabric. Moreover, many knitted or woven interlining fabrics have high shrinkage potential, and shrinkage of an interlining causes buckling or puckering of the shell fabric, and degradation of the appearance of the garment. Conventional woven, weft inserted and saturated nonwoven fabrics containing regular rayon or cotton show significant shrinkage upon wetting, dry cleaning or washing or subjected to steam in garment refurbishing processes.
In order to minimize shrinkage of woven or knitted interlinings, it is conventional to subject such fabrics to resin treatment, which serves to "set" the fibers and yarns of the fabric with respect to each other. Minimizing shrinkage by resin treatment, however, inherently decreases the desirable mobility of the fibers, degrading the hand and drape of the interlining and ultimately of the garment itself. The hand of resin-treated interlinings tends to be firm, and the fabric brittle. In some cases, the brittleness results in flaking (so-called "dusting") of the resin-treated yarn. Resin treatment also reduces bondability and fusing performance of the fabric.